Wealthy '5 Percenters' want to be taxed more

They're rich. They're angry. And they want to pony up more money to Uncle Sam.

Armed with placards reading "Please Raise Our Taxes" and colorful budget charts, about 75 well-dressed middle-aged folks assembled on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to send the message that they're ready to sacrifice for the public good.

"Like millions of Americans, (Tuesday) was not fun -- it was more like a root canal," said real estate developer John Stewart, referring to the day federal tax returns were due. He was addressing Tax-Us ( www.tax-us.info), the "affluent minority" group he founded that was launching with the City Hall rally. "But I was the beneficiary of Bush-era tax cuts that put more bucks in my pocket."

Those cuts for wealthy people caused today's deficit, he said. That's why his group, which self-identifies as "5 percenters, not 1 percenters," seeks tax increases for themselves and other top earners.

"It's a simple idea of shared sacrifice," said equity fund manager Barney Deasy, president of the investment firm Merritt Capital. "Tax all of us and do it now."

They're not the only rich people asking to pay more taxes.

The Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength (www.patrioticmillionaires.org), also spawned in the Bay Area, counts over a dozen Googlers, economist Nouriel Roubini and actress Edie Falco among its members seeking a higher tax rate for the super rich.

And Responsible Wealth (www.fair economy.org/responsible_wealth), a network of more than 700 business leaders and entrepreneurs, carries the same message.

Most famous, there is billionaire Warren Buffett, who for years has lamented that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does.

Tax-Us is open to collaboration with those like-minded groups, Stewart said.

It seeks a return to Clinton-era tax brackets, when the highest marginal rate was 39.6 percent versus 35 percent today. Alternatively, it supports the so-called Buffett Rule, a measure backed by President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats that would ensure a tax rate of at least 30 percent for the super wealthy. On Monday, U.S. Senate Republicans blocked debate on it, ensuring that it will not come to a vote.

Stewart, president of John Stewart Co., which has built mixed-use housing developments around the Bay Area, said he'd pay at least $10,000 more in taxes if his group gets its wish.

Its other top cause is targeting the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a vow to never raise taxes backed by influential conservative activist Grover Norquist. The vast majority of Congressional Republicans have signed the pledge, which Democrats say thwarts finding solutions to the deficit. Tax-Us wants politicians to sign an Anti Pledge Pledge, promising not to commit to a fixed position on solving the budget crisis.

Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said in a phone interview that groups like Tax-Us should put their money where their mouths are.

"I'm afraid our rich liberal friends are wrong about everything," he said. "Making a bunch of noise about how much you want to do something and not doing it -- really? That's not the act of a serious person."

He supports the Buffett Rule Act of 2011, legislation introduced last year by a Republican senator and congressman that would add a line to the bottom of 1040 forms so taxpayers could easily donate money to the government.

"If, like Warren Buffett, you think the federal government spends your money more wisely than you would, you can add additional money to your taxes, like a (restaurant) tip," he said. "Then these moral, preening hypocrites can write a check and shut up and leave the rest of us alone."

Stewart, who wore a button reading "Nix Nasty Norquist" on his jacket lapel, has some other tax reforms on his group's agenda. targeting Wall Street players -- eliminating tax breaks for hedge-fund managers and imposing a 3 cents per $100 tax on stock trades. The tax code now treats hedge fund managers' earnings as capital gains, taxed at 15 percent, instead of ordinary income. Changing it would bring in $17 billion a year in additional revenue, he said.

"We want a transaction tax for all those rapid-fire trades," said John Harrington, president of Harrington Investments, a socially responsible investment fund. "They make money out of money."

Is Tax-Us a counterpoint to Occupy?

"We're supportive of Occupy's anger over economic inequities," Stewart said. "They have some valid points but went about it in the wrong way. It's a mistake to break windows and double the police budget.

"But their instincts are right -- the wealth gap is really, really expanding. Money did not trickle down. It stayed in private jets."